Welcome to the Urban EDC Showcase! Each week, we feature a member of the EDC community and the gear they rely on every day. Want to be featured? Submit your gear photo.
From London, Junya (@the.owl.edc) is the classic multi-hyphenate of our generation. A freelance photographer by trade, Junya has also worked in retail, studied and graduated in music, dabbles in cooking and coffee, and is also learning leatherworking and knifemaking. Read on for a full rig rundown and find out how Junya’s EDC reflects his many interests and talents.
Featured Tools:
What's your story:
I live in London in the United Kingdom and I’m a freelance photographer. I used to work in retail but I had to get away from that life of waking up early to commute across the city for a job I didn’t like – usually on the weekends. I still wake up early and commute across the city or sometimes even further but the difference is it’s for something I’m passionate about.
My girlfriend and I both hated our jobs at the time, it was winter and were maybe being affected by seasonal depression but we talked about quitting our jobs and going traveling. So we did. We went to L.A.
For two weeks and then Japan for a month and a half. When we came back, she started doing some freelance work which led to a full-time job and I’ve been freelancing for just about a year now. I went into it without very many contacts and I’m still building up my network so work is few and far between for now but the hope is to get recruited by a company to take lifestyle product shots. I’m actually applying for internships or entry-level jobs in photography to have regular work but more importantly, to gain more experience.
Before my life in retail, I studied and graduated in music. My course involved learning everything you need to work as a professional musician. From techniques to the music business, psychology to actual performance workshops, it was a great learning experience. The only thing is, I started to lose my passion for it.
The course kind of emphasized that you need to work as a session artist or a teacher or a cover band. But the more I navigated the course, the more I realized, I just wanted to write music. I still graduated with good grades and still write music when I have the chance in my schedule.
I think you could say I had an EDC from my secondary school (middle-high in the states I think) days. I would always carry my phone, wallet, keys and earphones/headphones. Listening to music on the walk to and from school was a must for me.
It was only until I started assisting photographers back from about 2013 where I started to regularly carry my SAK with me. I learned of the term EDC early this year after randomly stumbling across a video by Taylor (Best Damn EDC) on YouTube. However, only about a month and a half ago since starting my Instagram account dedicated to it, I’ve found this incredible community of amazing people!
Hobbies... Well, I wouldn’t call it a hobby but I seem to spend a lot of time torturing myself by looking at all the EDC gear I can’t afford! Creating content for my Instagram is definitely a hobby. I like to play the guitar whether it’s just jamming or writing music.
I like to play games with my friends. I went to university with one of them but now he lives farther away so this is our way of hanging out together. The other is his brother whom I’ve become really good friends with.
I love spending time with my girlfriend, going out for long walks in the park and the forests or even just talking together while I cook. I enjoy cooking a lot and just today I spent about four hours in the kitchen preparing some sauerkraut, deboning a chicken and making stock from the bones!
I can’t call it a hobby yet because I’ve never done either but, I would really like to make a few things with leather and also want to try my hand at knife making. I drew out a design at Christmas and I’ve just been researching how to go about it since then. I also haven’t been able to afford any of the materials or tools yet which is another reason why I haven’t started.
Last but not least, I love coffee and the process of brewing pour-over coffee. Call me a hipster but It’s my favorite part of my morning ritual and one that I rarely skip.
Favorite EDC Tool:
My SAK is probably, although most likely on its last legs, my favorite piece of gear for its sheer versatility! I probably don’t use the saw as much these days so I could do with downsizing I guess.
What's On Your Gear Radar:
In terms of what’s next on my radar is probably a dedicated knife! I have a few ideas of what would work while still abiding by the relatively limiting UK knife laws. I also have plans to do something with 3D printing to make my carry a little better!
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